Music and Words
by Cearta Day
Summary: A widely ranging series of one-shots on the characters of the first two seasons inspired by a few lines of random songs.
1. The Man Who Can't Be Moved

Don't own Digimon or any of the songs/musicians I will be using

I bring you a series of one-shots inspired by song lyrics! No, not song fics per say but one-shots that were inspired by a few lines of a song that really struck me.

By no means do you have to have heard the songs I use. Often times, these won't even follow the whole song and just the lines stated before.

These will vary greatly in genre and pairings (but will always be about Adventure or 02 characters), so I decided to list all of that stuff before each one. Nothing will carry over into another chapter unless otherwise stated.

Without further ado…

**Genre:** Romance, little bit of humor

**Characters (ages):** Tai (18), Sora (18), some little kids (6 to 8)

**Warnings:** Taiora

**Song:** The Man Who Can't Be Moved by The Script

**Notes:** The things written like_ this_ are by the voice in the back of your head that says what you won't outright think or say. It's your conscience or an afterthought.

* * *

><p>"<em>'Cause If one day you wake up and find that you're missing me And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I could be Thinking maybe you'll come back here to the place that we'd meet"<em>

* * *

><p><span>The Man Who Can't Be Moved<span>

The red-headed teen let out a groan as the loud, insufferable alarm on her clock penetrated the still and silent morning. She shoved her face down into the pillow and pulled the covers farther up over her head. She did not want to get up today nor did she have to, so why she had her clock automatically set to go off on Saturday morning was beyond her.

_You know why._

She let out another groan but this one laced with much more emotion. She inched the covers away from her eyes so she could catch sight of the time. It was nine o'clock, exactly one hour before she should be at Odaiba Park's soccer field to help coach the little kids' team with Tai.

_Tai…_

Last night, Tai and Sora had been having a typical date: he picked her up a little late but made up for it with a nice dinner, they discussed everything from yesterday's pro soccer game to Monday's only half completed school assignment, they went to the movies and unanimously decided on seeing an action movie and… kept busy during the slower scenes. Everything had been going great, not without a few bumps but nothing to throw them off course.

That is until their opposing viewpoints turned into arguing which turned to fighting then to yelling and finally to Sora leaving in a cab. Now (and possibly it was due to the early morning grogginess) she couldn't even recall what the fight was about just that it couldn't have been that important.

What really left her distraught was how things ended. She and Tai argued all the time, but it was never to intentionally hurt one another. This time they'd been practically biting each other's heads off, and Sora didn't know where they stood.

_Liar, you said goodbye._

Yes, but she didn't mean it.

She groaned again in protest while slowly lifting herself out of bed. She dragged her slouching, weary form over to her closet to try and find her coach's jersey. After shuffling mindlessly through her many t-shirts, she realized she'd skipped over the bright red jersey that read "Odaiba Junior League" several times. She took it out, all the while thinking about how Tai had the exact same jersey.

Sora laid the shirt on the edge of her bed and was going to go retrieve some pants before catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

She was wearing Tai's ancient, torn The Script t-shirt.

"Ugh!... Stupid Tai!" she cried out in frustration turning away from the mirror. Why did everything remind her of him? She was mad at him; she was furious. She didn't want to see him ever again!

But then why did her chest hurt? She couldn't remember anything happening to it, but she was filled with some sort of anxiety that was overwhelming her and manifesting into a constant, dull pain.

It was less like being punched and more like the feelings that come with it, of disappointment, of failure, of just knowing you're hurt.

She would've rather been hit. That way she wouldn't feel so alone too.

Sora did her best to push all of those thoughts to the back of her mind. She was going to coach practice, and she was going to be mad at Tai… no matter what.

Grabbing a banana on the way out, Sora headed to the local park hoping with all her might to survive the next few hours.

* * *

><p>Tai sat, cross-legged, face in his hands, soaked to the bone, hair crazier than ever, in the dead center of Odaiba Park's very own soccer field.<p>

"Hey, Mister Kammy!"

Tai removed his hands but only lifted his head slightly. His brown eyes were glazed over, and he looked exhausted.

"Kamiya," He corrected the young child, a black-haired boy no older than seven, who had just called for him. He wore a bright, red jersey to match the rest of his black and red uniform. He was clad the same as the rest of the surrounding kids who had come to see their coach.

The kid nodded several times more like he was bobbing up and down than confirming he'd heard Tai. "Yeah, my daddy said to give you this."

Tai stared in disbelief at the quarter that had been shoved under his nose. "Your dad knows I'm your coach and not some hobo, right?"

"Kammy, why do you look like a hobo?" squeaked a girl in the back of the mob that was the soccer team.

Tai let out a loud sigh. Not wanting to answer the question, he fell back and lay down in the dew-filled grass. He tried to focus his attention on the clouds that after a night of pouring rain were beginning to lighten up, but his mind kept straying to the night before.

Things had been going great until he made some off-handed comment about… girls or flowers or something that made Sora mad which made him defensive which led to his pride ruining everything.

He let out a pained groan as yet again the image ran through his mind of Sora climbing into a cab alone.

Slowly and to the disheveled teenager's surprise, the kids sat down around him, talking amongst themselves or watching him curiously. He didn't know if their presence was annoying or comforting, but he couldn't do anything about it. He was their coach after all.

"Tai, get off of their and let them practice!"

Tai's and all of the kid's heads snapped over in the direction of the stern voice. Sora was striding up the field with a less than amused look. Tai sat up cautiously.

She began lecturing, anger fueled from the night before as she pushed down the forces telling her to just make up with him, "What are you doing? They should have already started practicing! And where's your coaching jersey...? Why are you wearing your clothes from the night before?"

He looked down bewildered as though he had just noticed his jeans and dark blue polo. He then looked up and spoke sincerely, "I didn't come here to coach. I came here for you."

She stopped in her tracks. The kids had stepped aside, and she stood right in front of Tai, looking down on him. "What are you talking about?"

He let out another sigh and scratched the side of his head. His brown bush was still wet and full of snippets of grass. "About twenty minutes after you left last night, I couldn't take it anymore, so I came here to wait for you."

Sora placed her hands on her hips in an attempt to still seem angry, but her true feelings were leaking through. He felt as alone as she did, but she wasn't ready to let him know that. Curiously she asked, "Why did you come here?"

"We met here," he explained as if it was obvious. "Remember, our first soccer practice, you sprained my ankle?" A mischievous grin appeared, and his whole demeanor instantly brightened.

She scoffed but then an involuntary smile broke out that matched his own. "It's not my fault you can't pass the ball."

"You mean couldn't?"

"No, I mean can't." His mouth opened like he was about to protest before he caught sight of her winking.

He closed his mouth and chuckled lightly. "So will you take me back? Because if not, they're never gonna make it to the championships, and you'll feel guilty when I'm still sitting here in the snow."

She paused remembering how angry she was.

_Just do it already!_

"I wanna go to the shampie-chips!" A six-year-old boy missing both front teeth piped.

She spoke to the child, but her eyes never left Tai. "Then I guess I'll have to take him back."

A few of the kids cheered, some only because everyone else was. During the mini-celebration, Tai's smirk grew wider. "Problem: I've been here awhile. I don't think I can move."

The redhead raised an eyebrow with a devious look. "You can't get up?"

"I might need help." He held out his hands, but instead of grabbing them, Sora pushed them aside as she lightly tackled his chest until she lay on top of him.

She felt his soaked form dampening her, but she merely whispered, "You really waited here all night in the rain?"

He leaned in whispering directly into her ear, "Come on, Sor, how could I have been here on time if I didn't spend the night?" He then turned and pecked the side of her cheek before attempting to get up.

She lightly pressed on his chest indicating him to stop before pressing her face into his grass-stained, soaking wet shirt. She looked up to meet his expectant eyes for a moment before firmly pulling him forward and pressing her lips to his.

And blending in with the background, a chorus of high pitched squeals could be heard.

"Eeeeewwwww…"

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><p>Thank you so much for reading!<p> 


	2. Be My Escape

**Genre:** Humor, friendship

**Characters (ages):** Izzy (14), Tai (15), Kari (12), Joe (16), Matt (15)

**Warnings:** talk of Koumi

**Song:** Be My Escape by Relient K

**Notes:** Obviously in this I'm referring to We are the Champions by Queen (which I don't own just like I don't own OHSHC), don't ask why Matt has the number for the locksmith memorized

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><p><em>"I've been locked inside that house all the while you hold the key."<em>

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><p><span>Be My Escape<span>

"Open the door, Tai."

"Oh you'd like that wouldn't you!"

"…Well yeah, I've been saying that for approximately twenty minutes now."

"Then say it for twenty more."

"Please open-"

"NEVER! MWUAHAHAHAHA!"

"…"

"…"

"Can I at least have my laptop?"

Tai, holding in snickers and blindly reaching for the other teen's computer bag innocently asked, "What laptop?"

Izzy sighed audibly from the other side of the Kamiya's closet door. "The one you stole right out of my hands before shoving me in this closet and singing We are the Champions while only stopping to laugh maniacally."

"I did that?"

Izzy was positive he was only playing dumb. "…Yes."

"When?"

"Twenty minutes ago," he said bluntly.

"Hmmm… I don't recall. By the way, Iz, you downloaded _all_ of Ouran Highschool Host club?" he asked with a huge smirk on his face as he heard Izzy's outraged yell and useless pounding on the door.

"STOP LOOKING THROUGH MY LAPTOP! TAICHI, YOU PUT THAT DOWN RIGHT NOW, OR YOU'LL REGRET IT BIG TIME!"

Tai's smirk grew into an evil, contempt grin. "You're stuck in a closet. What are you gonna do? Use your heat vision to melt down the door?"

If Izzy did have heat vision, Tai would be a shish kabob by now.

Taking a break from trying to escape, Izzy sat down with his back leaning against the door just as Tai did on the other side. He glumly asked, "…Why are you doing this?"

There was no response.

"Tai?"

Izzy could hear a scratching on the other side of the door and a steadily growing purr and to his surprise, baby talk.

"Aw, woosa good kitty? You'wa good kitty! 'Cept when woo cwa mwy fwace in teh middwel of teh night, but tat's okay 'cause I hand you off to Kawi when woo get wike tat."

"Stop talking to your cat and let me out!" Izzy shouted, startling Miko and leaving Tai to let out an indignant humph.

He tried to give the door an annoyed look, but it didn't carry over to his friend on the other side. "I was in the middle of something."

"Great, let me out of here, and you can get back to it."

"No can do, Iz," Tai said casually.

"…And why not?"

"I'm helping you," the bushy-haired brunette stated simply.

"Helping me?" Izzy asked knowing that whatever logic led to that, it couldn't make the least bit of sense.

Tai took a deep breath to prepare himself. "What time is it?"

"I don't know; you have my laptop."

He sheepishly grinned down at the pineapple laptop in his lap. "Right, anyways it's past noon."

"PAST NOON?" Izzy shot out of his seat and ended up banging his head into the coat closet's shelf causing several hats and gloves to topple onto him. Kari's fuchsia pom-pom hat remained seated upon his head, but he was too distracted to care. "I was supposed to meet Mimi at the ice skating rink at noon!"

"And now you don't have to," Tai proclaimed with a sense of pride.

"I _like_ spending time with Mimi."

"You_ like_ Mimi. Period." He continued quickly, so Izzy couldn't protest, "And you don't want a girl like _that_ knowing that you skate… like _that_."

The redheaded folded his arms over his chest protectively. "Like what?"

"Clumsy and always falling. Like Matt on the soccer field or Joe, uh, anywhere."

"…"

"…"

"I guess I'm not the best skater."

"And now you can avoid embarrassment by not going!"

Izzy stared down at his hands guiltily. "I promised her I'd be there."

The brunette smiled in triumph. "Right so now you can tell her you couldn't go because I trapped you in a closet!"

The genius stroked his chin. "Well it's believable enough. Can you let me out now? I promise I'll stay."

"I would if I could, but I can't," Tai rattled off airily.

"Why can't you?"

"Miko ate the key."

"…"

"…"

"That is not a 'good kitty' at all."

* * *

><p>"What makes you think I know how to crack open a lock?"<p>

"Please, Kari! You're his only hope!"

She looked to her brother in disbelief. "I was the only one available, wasn't I?"

An attention-seeking knock came from the other side of the door. "Can _someone _open this? I'm one hat avalanche away from claustrophobic."

"Alright, I'll try," she mumbled whilst fiddling with the bobby pin keeping her bangs at bay. She took it out, unbent it, and began fiddling with it in the lock.

"Got anything yet?" Tai asked impatiently.

"Nope."

A few more minutes of fiddling with the lock later:

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

"Nope, but this is what they do in movies."

Tai and Izzy both instantly facepalmed.

* * *

><p>"Please, Joe! You're his only hope!"<p>

Joe scrunched up his nose. "I highly doubt that. If worse comes to worse there's firemen, policemen, or your mom."

Tai placed his fists to his hips. "You think I'm gonna let my mom know I let Miko eat a key?"

Their trapped companion coughed slightly.

"Or that I locked Izzy in a closet," he added quickly.

"So what do you want me to do?" Joe inquired.

Tai explained, "As the oldest and tallest of the digidestined, I thought I would leave it up to you to ram this door down!"

"…"

"…"

"Please tell me you're joking."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not."

"Right so I'll be seeing you guys." Joe turned tail to retreat, but Tai grabbed his collar and spun him around to face the door. "Come on, Joe. Kari tried and now it's your turn to contribute. Just close your eyes and run straight for it."

Kari picked up Miko and took a few steps back. Tai side stepped away from his elder friend.

Joe looked from Tai to the door then rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. "How do I get myself into these things? Why is it never 'come on over, Joe! We're going to play a nice, safe, quiet board game!'? Oh, it always has to be something else. 'Joe, there's monsters all over the internet', 'Joe, save me from the hoard of bees you're allergic to!', 'Joe-"

"JOE!" Tai yelled to get his attention. "You're already here! Just do it!"

The older teen sighed deeply and faced the firmly shut door. He had to do this for his friends; he was reliable after all. He took a deep breath, braced himself, and charged.

"YEEEEHAAAAWW!"

Needless to say, Joe had to buy a new pair of glasses that day.

* * *

><p>Tai dropped to his knees dramatically as soon as his front door swung open. "Please, Matt! You're his only hope!"<p>

Matt looked around the room at Kari stroking Miko and Joe clutching his arm. "Did you say that to everyone?"

"…Just help."

He casually went to throw his coat in the closet before stopping when the doorknob wouldn't turn.

"Help me out of the closet!" Came Izzy's voice from within the coat closet.

"Oh… You see, Izzy, before others can except you, you have to except yourself-"

"Not like that!"

Matt chuckled lightly. He dropped his hand off the knob and looked to where behind the door he assumed his friend was. "Let me guess: Tai."

"Yep," Izzy replied flatly.

"Why?"

"To stop me from going ice skating."

"Brilliant," Matt remarked sarcastically.

Tai irritatedly asked, "So what are you gonna do?"

Matt paused a moment to contemplate, strolled over and into the Kamiya's kitchen, picked up the telephone and started dialing.

Tai's eyes grew wide. "What in the Digiworld are you doing?"

"Calling the locksmith," he stated simply causing Tai to dash over, steal the phone, and slam it down on the receiver.

"You really shouldn't hang up on people," the blonde reprimanded.

"We can't call the locksmith!" Tai exclaimed, "They could tell my mom!"

Matt shrugged helplessly. "I guess that's that then."

"What's what?"

"We'll have to wait until…" Everyone in the room's eyes turned to the cat in Kari's arms.

There was a long, awkward pause then Tai laughed nervously. "At least I got you out of ice skating, right, Iz?"

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><p>Much thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!<p> 


	3. College Kids

**Genre:** friendship, slice of life

**Characters (ages):** Tai (18), Matt (18)

**Warnings:** Eh, nothing really

**Song:** College Kids by Relient K

**Notes: **Just two short stories in college

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><p>"<em>College always was his dream, and I would always say it's not for me."<em>

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><p><span>College Kids<span>

"Wow," Tai breathed mesmerized by his surroundings. Four gray walls, a few feet of dusty floor boards, and a slanted, wooden desk: it had to be the most wonderful thing he'd ever seen.

He took his time tiptoeing around the room trying to memorize where the floorboards creaked, figure out how to place everything in the now empty room. Something about the experience was invigorating; he'd never had this much power.

No one was going to order him around or tell him what to do with the space (Well he did have a roommate, but he wasn't as keen about the dorm room.). He had supreme control over not just the dorm room but everything: what classes he took, how late he stayed out, what he ate, when he studied. It was all on him.

In the doorway, Matt appeared lugging a cardboard box of CDs. With a grunt, he launched the box onto the desk and placed his hands to his hips. "Now only… twenty more boxes."

"You brought that much stuff?" Tai asked.

The blonde narrowed his eyes. "No, _you_ brought that much stuff."

"Oh…Hehe," Tai chuckled guiltily. He hadn't bothered to carry up anything from the car considering how excited he was. He sprinted up to his and Matt's new dorm room even before the car was fully stopped.

There were a few comfortable moments of silence as Matt shuffled through his CDs, and Tai surveyed the room more. Finally, the latter spoke with evident awe in his voice, "We own something in this world."

Matt glanced up from his copy of Relient K's latest album. "Actually the school owns this."

His friend frowned slightly. "You're ruining this." Matt didn't respond. "It's supposed to be the greatest moment of our lives!"

"Really?" the blonde asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Tai nodded with the utmost certainty.

"What's so great?" he asked pessimistically, "The dust?"

"It builds character," The brunette reasoned.

"The cramped space?"

"All part of the experience."

Blaring music and 'whooping' could be heard past one of the gray walls. Matt grimaced. "The neighbors?"

"…Teaches tolerance?" Tai tried. "Come on, you'll love college!"

"It's just more school," he reasoned, "I'll_ love_ getting out of here."

Despite his friend's pessimistic attitude, Tai knew it wouldn't cause him to lose any of his spirit. "Come on, Matt! What about our freedom? Our control over our own lives? We could make a difference in the world!"

Matt retorted, "Uh, we already did that. Saved the world from evil digimon about a million times."

"Yeah but no one knows it was us," Tai grumbled. Maybe in college, he could make a name for himself.

"Well you go and make your name in the world," Matt started while heading back out the door to grab another box, "I'll unload the car and move it before it gets towed."

* * *

><p>000<p>

Matt tapped his pencil repeatedly while looking over his trigonometry notes. It was rather unsettling that he couldn't decipher them… not that he'd understood what his professor was saying in the first place.

After fiddling with the lock, Tai sheepishly walked into the dorm room. "Hey, on a scale of one to ten how bad would it be if I didn't turn in one of my final papers?"

"…11.5," Matt mused still focused on his notes, "Why?"

Tai kept his gaze planted to the ceiling. "I got a little too caught up in the college experience and uh…"

Matt looked up at his friend, resisting the urge to facepalm. "You didn't."

"And that, my friend, is the problem," Tai concluded.

"I warned you," his friend reminded, "This is still school."

"But this could turn into a great memory!" He explained still trying to be optimistic.

Matt said sarcastically, "'The Reason Tai Failed College and the Wrath of his Professors Came Down Upon him.' Yeah, that'll be a good one for the campfire."

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><p>Thanks for reading!<p> 


	4. One Week

**Genre:** friendship, tragedy

**Characters (ages):** Izzy (17), Matt (18)

**Warnings:** Themes of death, talk of afterlife

**Song:** One Week by Bare Naked Ladies

**Notes: **First person, I knew I was going to do something with this song eventually. I just never thought it would be this.

* * *

><p><em>"I'm the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral."<em>

* * *

><p>One Week<p>

Death: A damaging or destructive state of affairs, the destruction or permanent end of something, the end of the life of a person or organism.

The end… of a person.

It could all be broken down logically, scientifically. Death was nothing, focus on the denotation. Death is the end, but haven't people always said that the end is just a new beginning?

It's just too bad the rest of us can't begin it with you…

No, it's inevitable that everyone dies eventually, so we'll surely meet up with Tai again. That is of course, assuming there's something after this. There's nothing scientific proving that, but then again nothing directly disproving. There are Digi-Gods, does that count for anything? Perhaps if anything, the Digi-Gods have a place for him. For all we've accomplished, they do owe him.

"Hey, Iz," a slightly raspy voice greeted.

I was snapped out of my state of shock, and my eyes did a quick scan of the room. Meaningful pictures, awkward small talk, people in black. Now I remember precisely where I am, so I simply greeted Matt with a "hello" before I got a good look at him.

He acted very composed, stone-faced, unreadable, icy eyes, but his voice earlier and his unmistakably puffy eyes and disheveled hair gave it away. It wasn't everyday you see Matt out in public without mounds of gel and poorly spent money in his hair.

Then again, today wasn't any day. It was rare. There must be a percentage for how often someone you know dies, a lesser percentage that you actually care about, an even lesser percentage for those you're close to, but this wasn't my first time dealing with the smallest percent. My parents' deaths… then again I don't remember them, but they are my parents, so that would still be considered close, but closeness and bonding does require time we didn't have so maybe this is my first experience with the least percentile? I wonder if it's Matt's…

Matt! I had forgotten about him, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he had found interest in his shoes as he scuffed them across the floor, messy blonde hair shading his face ergo emotions from view. He moved his head up slightly and caught sight of me staring at him.

"I hate these shoes," he stated bluntly as if I had asked him. "They're my dad's, but I don't have any good shoes so- ugh, they don't even fit." He kicked the back of one shoe with the other producing a small squeak and a few heads to turn, but Matt either didn't notice or didn't care.

I looked at him in what I assumed was a thoughtful manner. I wouldn't say he was in a state of denial, more a refusal to acknowledge. He knew, he just didn't want to and so was keeping his mind on other things. That was a very common coping mechanism and a necessary one if you intended to move on, but you do have to confront the problem first. Maybe Matt has to talk about it even if he doesn't want to.

"How's TK?" I tried. I could start here and let the conversation drift over to Matt himself.

He appeared confused for a moment, as though he had no idea why his brother wouldn't be alright before it dawned on him.

"Bad but he'll be fine," Matt replied as he looked right through me. "He's with Kari right now, and she's…" He trailed off with a pained expression on his face. "He's, uh, being strong for her I guess you'd say."

I nodded slightly. Of course he was with her. Sources say he's practically lived at the Kamiya's apartment this past week.

"And you?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

Matt did something that was probably a pathetic attempt at a smirk. "…For this whole week I've been going around whispering 'He's not dead, he's not dead.' I should've known if he really wasn't dead, he would've smacked me by now."

I nodded again. So he has been going through denial. That's only the first step of the grieving process. There's still bargaining, anger, and depression before reaching acceptance. Then of course steps can repeat themselves. I don't believe I've followed the steps very well. I'm possibly in denial right now, but it's not that I haven't accepted his death as fact; it's that I've chosen not to emotionally connect to it and instead launch my mind into the comfort of logic. Interesting, that must be my coping mechanism, reject emotion. It happened in the Digital World, when I discovered I was adopted, and now presently.

Matt and I had fallen into a fairly comfortable silence. He was looking anywhere other than the heart-wrenching faces of the friends and family. My gaze wandered over to a slide show up on a wall with what must have been every picture of Tai Mrs. Kamiya had.

There were school pictures, soccer pictures, an embarrassing baby picture in the bathtub that I was sure if Tai had gotten a last request it would be not to include that one, pictures with family, pictures with friends. I was in quite a few of those ones, usually looking shocked to have a camera shoved in my face. I never did understand the purpose of pictures. Humans have amazing memorization capabilities, and if we could tap into that we wouldn't need pictures to jog our memories of past occurrences.

One picture in particular stuck out. I remembered the whole story behind it. After a trip to the Digital World, we had gotten back to my apartment late on a night where it was pouring down rain so hard you could barely see or stand, and Tai and Matt had some huge history test to study for, but they needed a copy of their history book to do it. We ended up sprinting four blocks to the Kamiya's to retrieve it. We must've studied all of ten minutes before the three of us fell asleep in the family room, Matt sprawled along the couch, Tai bent over the coffee table, me against the coffee table with my head tilted all the way back, all three of us soaking wet, water dripping down onto the history book and their notes. Again, one of the only times you would ever see Matt's hair in any condition besides perfectly gelled.

Such a simple photo, a little section of the life that is Tai Kamiya… was.

I chuckled. There was nothing funny about this, but… it was just so unbelievable that nothing like that was ever going to happen again.

That's why people laugh, isn't it? Not out of joy but confusion. It's a coping mechanism. When things are too ridiculous to fathom you laugh at it.

What was more ridiculous than one of my only friends being dead?

I involuntarily laughed harder until my chuckled turned into a guffaw. I could see out of the corner of my eye Matt watching me with concern and several others glaring at me and probably thinking about how disrespectful I was, but they don't understand. Not really. They saw Tai twice a year for holidays; I saw him every day or at least talked to him… He couldn't be dead, he just couldn't.

I kept laughing for who knows how long, great roaring laughter that could've put anyone to shame. I would calm down for a moment then laugh again, louder. I laughed until I started coughing and gagging at which point Matt clutched my arm for fear of me falling over. Then of all things, I laughed so hard I cried. My eyes watered and the more I pushed the tears back the more they broke through until I wasn't laughing at all and instead crying, balling even. In that moment, I don't think I could've told you why I was crying just that I'm crying because I'm sad.

I'm sad because my friend died.

My friend died because death is inevitable.

Death is inevitable because everything ends.

If only it were that simple…


	5. Never Grow Up

Salmon.

Did you read that as salmon the fish or as some sort of digimon? If the ladder, you've probably been on this site too long. (It's okay, I was the ladder.)

* * *

><p><strong>Genre:<strong> Humor, friendship

**Characters (ages):** TK (15), Davis (15), Izzy (17), Matt (18), Tai (18), Kari (15)

**Warnings:** Well uh Easy Bake Ovens are dangerous, right?... Don't try this at home, kids? Plus some minor coarse language

**Song:** Never Grow Up by Taylor Swift

**Notes:** To my knowledge, I don't own Easy Bake Ovens or EBay. This is just a silly story I thought of.

* * *

><p><em>"Don't you ever grow up."<em>

* * *

><p><span>Never Grow Up<span>

"Davis, what are you doing?"

"…Nothing."

"Please tell me you're not-"

"No, of course not!"

"Davis?"

"What?"

"Tell the truth."

"…"

"…"

"ALL I WANT IN THIS UNIVERSE IS SOME CAKE! Is that so wrong?"

TK took one look at Davis then to the Easy Bake Oven. "When we're in the middle of breaking into our friends' apartment, yes."

Davis grumbled something about the world today and its lack of readily available cakes while TK just rolled his eyes and urged, "Come on, we have a limited amount of time before Tai and Kari get back, and we don't even know what our prank is!"

The brunette blinked and leaned back in the Kamiyas' kitchen chair. "You mean we broke into Tai and Kari's place, and we don't even have a plan?"

"Well we would have a plan if _someone_ had brought the sour cream like he said he would."

Davis sighed. "I told you the store was out. Now help me work this." He repeatedly pushed the buttons on the front of the Easy Bake Oven but to no avail.

TK raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to the table. "Don't you think it's a little odd this was just sitting here?"

"Oh come on, dude, ever since the Prank War started you think everything is some sort of conspiracy. Someone waxed the floor? It's so you'll trip and fall into a pie. Dropped your pencil in class? The start of an elaborate relay of traps that'll end with a pie. Door's open slightly? A bucket of water's waiting to fall on you… then a pie."

"What? Do you think I have some deathly fear of pies?"

Davis shuddered. "I know I do. All that sugar and cream…"

TK rolled his eyes. "Maybe I've gone a little overboard, but at least I'm still in the game…. You do know those buttons are only stickers, right?"

Davis grabbed both sides of the oven and dragged it closer to him. "Seriously! Ugh why would they even do that? Are they trying to make it harder than it needs to be?"

TK took a seat on the other side of the table and began reading one of the many food packets that lay there. "I really don't think you're their target audience."

"Are you saying Easy Bake Ovens support discrimination?"

"What? No, I'm saying advertisers-"

"Stop right there! I know what you meant." Davis stood up, placed a fist to each hip, and might as well have had a flag flying behind him in the background. "And I think it's a sad world where a teenage boy cannot play with an Easy Bake Oven in peace without getting judged by his so called friend and the advertising industry."

"…I'm not sure if that was inspirational… or what."

Davis shrugged. "I was inspired. Inspired enough to make a cake that is!"

TK raised an eyebrow. "How much sugar did you have before you came here?"

The brunette was already buzzing around the table choosing a cake packet and gathering the necessary items. "For your information all I had was some coffee."

"With how much su-"

"ONLY A LITTLE!" Davis bellowed. "Ooh white cake mix sounds good!" He quickly got to work getting out a bowl, adding water, and creating his delicious cake leaving TK alone to ponder on what their big prank would be.

"It's gotta be something… brilliant," TK thought aloud, "So brilliant that you won't even be able to look at it dead on for fear of catching blindness."

Davis blinked. "Can you _catch _blindness?"

TK scratched the side of his head. "Well I mean you can _become_ blind; you can attain… The point is this prank has to be good."

The other slid his tiny cake pan into the oven carefully, a huge grin plastered on his face.

The blonde eyed the yellow concoction as it slid into the oven. "Are you really going to eat that?"

"Yep." He set a timer on his phone to go off in a few minutes.

TK sighed as they heard a knock at the front door.

"I'll get it," Davis announced and got up from his chair.

"No, you mustn't!" TK called throwing an arm between Davis and the door.

"Why not?"

"Because when you break into your friends' apartment you don't answer the door for them," he stated bluntly earning an eye roll from Davis.

"Come on, whoever it is will never know we aren't supposed to be here." Ignoring TK's arm, he turned the knob only to have it be pushed open causing them both to stumble backwards out of the way.

"Hello, TK, Davis," Izzy mumbled quickly with a nod in both of their directions as he walked right passed them and into the living room where he began inspecting the inside of a flower pot.

"Hey," Matt greeted much more calmly as he took the time to stop and close the door behind him.

Davis backpedaled a few steps from the door. "Wait, are you guys here for the Prank War too?"

"Hmm? No, I got out last Saturday because _someone_ put blue hair dye in my shampoo." He glared over at TK who chuckled guiltily.

"The box said it would wash out in a couple days."

Matt reached for the tips of his hair which were still a dull blue. "Whatever I have bigger concerns at the moment. He went into the kitchen and began searching through the cupboards. Davis and TK followed.

The ladder asked, "So why are you here?"

Matt stopped searching for a moment and leaned his hands on the table as he asked, "Remember when Tai and I found that potato chip that looked like John Lennon and sold it on EBay?"

TK sighed, "Unfortunately…"

"Well we found another chip at Izzy's house that looks like Jimi Hendrix, but Tai stole it and plans to keep all the money for himself!"

Davis blinked. "Seriously, how much money do you make off of those?"

He shrugged. "Enough that we were willing to break into this apartment if you guys hadn't opened the door." With that he joined Izzy in the search.

TK shook his head in mock disappointment and teased, "Izzy, I'm ashamed in you. How could you get dragged into this?"

The redhead shot his head up from where it was previously looking under a couch cushion. "It's quite simple actually. You see my whole web site designing business hit a bump in the road, and I needed the money, and… are you playing with an Easy Bake Oven?"

TK laughed and slid to his left on the wood floor, so he stood directly in front of the oven. Davis remained seated behind him chuckling nervously. With a crooked smile and an incredulous voice he said, "Wha-? Nnnooooo, little kids play with Easy Bake Ovens."

Just then the timer went off with a high-pitched _'ding!' _causing Davis to spring from his seat yelping, "My cake! Move, TK, it's gonna burn!"

He rushed to grab the plastic handle to take the cake out as Matt began to laugh. "Maybe Izzy and I should leave you girls to your baking."

Davis continued fussing over the oven leaving TK to defend them. "You bake."

Matt folded his arms and scoffed, "I _cook_. There is a major difference!"

"IT'S HOT! OW! OUCH, OH THE PAIN! THE AGONY!"

The other three looked over to Davis startled.

"Is it really that hot?" Izzy asked.

Davis quit blowing on his finger and shrugged. "Mildly so, yes."

"I can't believe you could make anything with this," Matt muttered.

"Someone's mister negative," Davis taunted as he stuck his tongue out.

"No, I just don't get how a light bulb could cook anything," He defended but even as he spoke he was already reaching for the nearest cooking packet and reading it over.

"Maybe it's because it's only a little cake," TK suggested.

"Or the magic of childhood nostalgia?" Davis guessed.

"Actually the heat created by…" Izzy continued with his long, scientific explanation that seemed to fade into the background.

Matt whispered to the other two, "So you came here to play with an oven?"

"No!" Davis protested loud enough to make Izzy stop his explanation, "We broke in to do something for the Prank War!"

Izzy came over to the group at the table. "And what exactly are you going to do now that you've broken in?"

TK scratched the side of his head. "We haven't um gotten that far yet."

"Of course not," Matt muttered, "Well you're doing great so far. Using their Easy Bake Oven without their permission? That's hard core."

"Oh!" Davis yelped, "What if for the prank we use up all of their cooking packets and don't leave any for them?"

Izzy leaned over the table to peer at the yellow creation in the little pan that had been pulled out of the oven. "Something tells me not having anything to cook with this wouldn't be a bad thing."

"I'm sure my cake will be delicious."

"Wasn't there a recall on these?" Matt mentioned.

"Why would there be?" TK asked.

"Because they're a fire hazard or something."

Davis folded his arms. "I'll have you know this Easy Bake Oven and my cake are both safe and scrumptious!"

"Davis."

"Yeah?"

"Your sleeve is on fire."

"What are you…? What the hell! I'M ON FIRE!" Davis screeched and began furiously blowing out the small flame that had started on his jacket sleeve. With a sigh of relief, it went out, but he soon caught sight of the fireworks show going on with the Easy Bake Oven. "MY OVEN!" he cried and began blowing on the contraption as TK took matters into his own hands and retrieved some water in a pan from the kitchen sink.

In the midst of all this chaos a key could be heard turning in the lock as loud as thunder crackling in the sky. They all froze as two voices and two sets of footsteps could be heard entering from the lavender, front door around the corner.

"Are they even allowed to do that?"

"It's always been like that, Tai."

"Nuh-uh, then why are tomatoes in the little vegetable picture?"

"…What?"

"The little picture of vegetables on the food pyramid has tomatoes right next to the carrots!"

"Tai, they got rid of the food pyramid."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, it's a plate now."

"Alright, now I _know_ they're not allowed to do that."

They rounded the corner and stopped to merely stare at the scene before them.

Davis ceased blowing on the fire, TK stopped mid-turn with the pan of water halfway between the sink and its destination, Izzy blushed slightly, and Matt casually leaned back in his chair as though he had nothing to do with all this.

Tai pushed his soccer bag farther up over his shoulder and asked, "So… why are you all in my kitchen?"

Kari rushed over to the table and squealed, "My oven! What have you done?"

She looked directly to Davis who with a half-hearted grin replied, "We cooked."

Matt raised a finger in the air. "I was only a victim in all this."

Izzy scoffed, "Hardly! You were at least an accessory."

"Fine, how 'bout a bystander?"

Kari grabbed the pan of water from TK and poured it over the oven successfully putting out the fire and causing a few sparks and loud buzzes before dying. Davis, TK, and Izzy sighed in relief, but Kari turned around with a look that struck more fear into them than the oven fire.

"You all owe me a new Easy Bake Oven," She growled then marched away and into her room slamming the door behind her.

Davis chuckled nervously. "Seems she's more heated than the oven."

The lame joke got a laugh out of everyone present for the earlier shenanigans, but Tai only narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Seriously… I can't believe you both fell for it."

TK's eyes grew wide as realization dawned on him. "F-fell for what? You mean we were pranked? What, no we weren't! We're not out! I'm still in this!"

"No, you're not," Izzy replied calmly.

Davis gasped. "Izzy, you're a part of this?"

"Well yeah I'm still in the Prank War which is why I helped Tai with this little charade."

Davis blinked and turned to Tai. "So you anticipated that we'd break into your house?"

"Uh-huh," he confirmed.

"And that's why you left out the Easy Bake Oven?"

Izzy nodded. "Yep."

"But… But what was the prank?" TK blubbered as he stumbled up to Tai. "After all that I still have no idea what the prank was!"

"This." With a smirk, Tai took out a banana cream pie from behind his back, and it was smushed in TK's face before he even had a chance to react.

While the others were busy laughing at TK's misery, Izzy pulled a pie out from one of the cabinets and threw it at Davis.

"AUGH! NO, MY ONE TRUE FEAR!" Davis cried as he picked pie crust off of his goggles before even bothering to clean himself up, "I TOLD YOU WE WERE GONNA GET PIED!"

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><p>Thanks for reading!<p> 


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